States stockpile abortion drug after competing rulings

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday the state is preparing to purchase a five-year supply of misoprostol, one of two drugs used in chemical abortions. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his state had secured about 2 million doses of the drug on Monday. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Monday said the Bay State had stockpiled a year’s supply of mifepristone, the other drug used in the procedure. The Democratic governors’ announcements were in response to competing U.S. district court rulings that involved the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.

What is happening with the two rulings? The Biden administration filed an appeal on Monday after a federal judge in Texas rescinded the FDA’s approval of the drug on Friday. Officials also asked a federal judge in Washington state to clarify a contradictory ruling that said access to the pill should not change. The FDA first approved the use of mifepristone in the United States in 2000.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report in Vitals about the fight to end the 23-year-old approval of mifepristone.